Spice-cabinet.



No. 644,257. Patented Feb. 27, I900.

P. J. MULLOY.

SPICE CABINET.

(App catmn filed. May 18, 1899.)

(No Model.)

Nrrnn STATES PATENT Enron.

PATRICK J. MULLOY, OF ARDOOH, NORTH DAKOTA.

SPICE-CABINET.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 644,257, dated February 27, 1900. Application filed May 18, 1899. Serial No. 717,343. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, PATRICK J MULLOY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Ardoch, in the county of WValsh and State of North Dakota, have invented a new and useful Spice-Cabinet, of which the following is a specification.

Myinvention relates to dispensing-cabinets for groceries and similar commodities, and particularly to a spice-cabinet wherein a plurality of receptacles are employed for containing different articles, the object in view being to provide such a construction and arrangement of parts as to enable the operator to withdraw the desired quantities of the contents of the receptacles, and particularly to provide such means for withdrawing said contents as may serve to indicate the quantities, whereby subsequent weighing may be avoided.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will appear in the following description, and the novel features thereof will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims, it being understood that various changes in the form, proportion, and the minor details of construction within the scope of the appended claims may be resorted to without departingfrom the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the present invention.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a spice-cabinet constructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is a detail vertical sectional view of one of the receptacles. Fig. 3 is a transverse horizontal section of the same.

Similar reference characters indicate like and corresponding parts in all the figures of the drawings.

The receptacles which I employ in connection with the improved spice-cabinet may be used separately and for that purpose are provided with any suitable means for attachment to a supporting object; but in practice, and particularly when the receptacles are designed for spices, I prefer to arrange them in the form of a cabinet by mounting them in an annular series upon a frame revolubly mounted to give access with equal facility to all of the receptacles. Therefore in the construction illustrated the receptacles 1 are supported by the revoluble frame 2, which is mounted upon the central standard or spindle 3, having a base or foot 4. This cabinet may be arranged upon a counter or the standard may be made of a height adapting it to rest upon the floor, as may be preferred by the operator or may be determined by the manufacturer. Each receptacle is of preferably cylindrical construction, having a removable cap or cover 5 and having a downwardly-tapered or funnel-shaped lower end 6, terminating in a discharge-spout 7, which is vertically disposed in alinement with the axis or longitudinal center of the cylindrical portion of the receptacle. The ad vantage of this disposition of the spout or nozzle is that the bag or sack to receive a predetermined quantity of the contents of the receptacle may be disposed under the spout, with its upper edge almost encircling the same, whereby loss of the spice or other article in its transfer from the receptacle to the sack may be avoided.

Mounted axially in the discharge-spout is a feed or discharge screw 8, extending downwardly approximately to the lower end thereof and mounted at its upper endin a trans verse bar 9, arranged in the receptacle. The spindle of the feed-screw carries a pinion 10, with which meshes a pinion 11 on an operating-spindle 12, mounted horizontally in a receptacle and provided at its exposed extremity with a crank arm 13 or other equivalent means for actuating the same. To prevent contact of the spices or other contents of the receptacles with the gear, the latter is preferably housed in a casing 14, arranged in the receptacle below the above-described transverse bar. Also carried by the spindle of the feed-screw above and below the plane of the transverse bar are agitator-arms 15'and 16, the lower arm 16 preferably being located in the downwardly-tapered or funnel-shaped lower portion of the receptacle or adjacent to the point of discharge, and adjacent to this lower agitator-arm is arranged a guard in the form of a disk 17, also carried by the spindle of the feed-screw and having its edge spaced from the inner surface of the wall of the receptacle a sufficient distance to allow a free downward movement of the contents of the receptacle, the guard being of sufficient size to check the flow of the spices and pre- ICO vent choking of the screw. This disk may be corrugated, as shown, or otherwise constructed to serve as a means for causing the spice or other contents of the receptacle to feed freely therefrom when the guard is-revolved, and by this arrangement in the receptacle the said guard serves to support the weight of the superposed portion of the contents of the receptacle.

By corrugating the disk-shaped guard 17 and extending the corrugations in parallel relation to each other a hold is obtained on the material resting on the guard, and as the latter is rotated the tendency is to throw the material outward by centrifugal action, causingit to pass beyond the edges of the guard and drop. downward therefrom and preventing said material from remaining permanently on the guard. This insures a complete discharge of all material contained within the receptacle.

Fitted upon the lower end of the spout or discharge-tube is acap 18, preferably hinged, as at 19, and provided with a thumb or finger hold 20, whereby its displacement to expose the end of the tube may be accomplished with facility.

The relation between the gears by which motion is communicated from the operatingspindle to the feed-spindle and the pitch of the same are such that a given number of revolutions of the Operating-spindle will cause the feed through the spout of a definite amount of the contents of the receptacle, said feed-screw constituting a measuring-screw, and hence in operation the operator may draw the desired amount of spices from a receptacle by turning the operating-spindle a definite number of times, and the tedious operation of weighing small quantities may thus be avoided.

From the foregoing it is thought that the construction, operation, and many advantages of the herein-described spice-cabinet will be apparent to those skilled in the art without further description, and it will be understood that changes in the size, shape,

the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is- 1. A spice-receptacle having a downwardlytapered or funnel-shaped lower end and a communicating depending outlet spout, a vertical feed-screw arranged axially in said spout, an operating-spindle, connections between the operating-spindle and the spindle of the feed-screw, a housing for said connections and agitator-arms carried by the spindle of the feed-screw, above and below said housing, substantially as specified.

2. Aspice-receptaclehavingadownwardlytapered or funnel-shaped lower end and a communicating depending outlet-spout, a

feed-screw arranged axially in said spout, an operating-spindle, connections between the operating-spindle and the spindle of the feedscrew, and a disk carried by the spindle of the feed-screw and arranged horizontally in the receptacle to leave an annular space between the periphery thereof and the wall of the receptacle, substantially as specified.

3. Aspice-r'eceptacle havingadownwardlytapered or f unnel-shaped lower end and a communicating outlet-spout, a feed-screw arranged axially in said spout, an operatingspindle, connections between said spindle and the spindle of the feed-screw, and a corrugated disk-shaped guard carried by the spindle of the feed-screw and arranged horizontally in the receptacle to leave an annular space between the periphery thereof and the wall of the receptacle, substantially as speci- In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto afliXed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

PATRICK J. MULLOY.

Witnesses:

Gno. L. MORROW, (3. WV. DENNISTON. 

